Shirt and collar



ec. 3, 1935. L, SHEPHERD 2,@23,3950

SHIRT AND COLLAR Filed April 17, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l Ba' W @e-(h 1935- T. L. SHEPHERD I ,390

SHIRT AND-COLLAR Filed April 17, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 3, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application April 17, 1933, Serial No. 666,590 In Great Britain July 25, 1932 9 Claims.

This invention relates to means provided. in shirts or collars, whether soft or stiff, for the purpose of maintaining the collar in position without the use of the back stud, the means being 5 adapted also to keep the sides of the collar in position.

The invention consists in an improved device for enabling detachable collars to be worn with shirts comprising a pair of ridge-like bands formed partly or wholly of rubber or material possessing similar resilient properties, and which are not adversely affected by washing, ironing or laundering operations, and are secured one upon the collar and the other upon the neck band of the shirt so as to engage each other.

A collar when properly fitting on a neck band has always the tendency to slip up and not down, and thus the engagement of the said two ridges prevents the collar slipping or riding up.

These ridges are, also according to the invention, formed either wholly or partly of rubber or other resilient material in band form and possessing similar properties, preferably enclosed in a suitable covering or sheath of linen or the like fabric.

, The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shirt showing the ridge applied around the neck band thereof.

Figure 2 is an inside elevation of a collar fitted with a ridge according to the invention.

Figure 3 is a back elevation of the neck band of a shirt and showing the ridge arranged there- Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing a case in which the ridge on the collar is formed as an interrupted member.

Figures 5 to 9 show vertical transverse sections of a collar and neck band in working relation one to the other in perspective, and showing the ridges in cross section. The figures show five different cross sections in the shapes of the interengaging ridges.

45 Figure 10 shows an enlarged side view of an-- ferring by way of examplemore particularly to Figures 1, 2, and 3, the ridge, generally denoted by a on the neck band 1), consists of a rubber, caoutchouc or other resilient piping or cord enclosed within a suitable covering or sheath d of linen or the like fabric, as indicated more clearly in Figure 5, and such sheath may be made from extensible or stretchable material.

Such a sheath dis secured as shown to the neck band by stitching as at e, and there is similarly secured to the collar ,1, to form a similar ridge a, a similar rubber or other resilient piping or cor-d g, which is also enclosed in a sheath of linen or other fabric h, the latter being secured as by stitching and shown at is.

It will be seen that the ridges, either enclosed in a sheath or not, are thus sewn on opposite sides so that a firm locking action is produced, and their adjacent edges will thus be permitted a certain freedom of movement so that they may roll on or move relatively to one another.

The collar illustrated in the drawings by way of example is of the double or turn down kind, and it will be noted that the ridge a formedon the collar will be preferably of smaller size, as in the manner shown, than that of a which is secured to the neck band of the shirt. By way of example it may be stated that the ridge on the neck band may be in. diameter, whilst that on the collar may be /64". In this way, as will be seen from Figure 5, the ridge formed on the collar will be able to engage well under the ridge secured to the neck band, as it is adapted to fold in under the curve of the ridge where it folds back to the neck band. A firm lcdgment is thus afforded to hold securely the collar in position so that it can never work loose, this holding effect being further ensured by the curve of the collar as it passes round or fits round the curve of the neck band.

The rubber cord or piping of each of the ridges is preferably formed from pure Para rubber or a material having similar properties, which affords maximum resilience to cross sectional compression, and at the, same time the rubber cord may 45 be capable of being stretched but slightly in a lengthwise direction, although if desired the rubber or resilient cord may be freely stretchable lengthwise.

When a ridge is formed in this way and made of rubber or similar resilient or extensible material, it will have no tendency to become permanently flattened by any laundering action, but will retain its resilience in spite of repeated washings and ironings of the shirt and the collar. 55

The ridge may be applied equally well to collars and neck bands whether they are soft or stiff, or single or double.

Usually the ridge, and the piping cord which it contains, will be of circular cross section, but other suitable shapes may be substituted or used. Thus, in Figure 6, the resilient piping cords l and m respectively are made of somewhat square section, but the two sides which come into mutual locking engagement are sloped as at n to represent or to resemble a dovetailed or undercut form so that the two parts will be held in firmer engagement.

Figure 7 shows the two resilient cords o and p respectively as being square in cross section and of the relative sizes shown.

Figure 8 shows the resilient cords q and 1 respectively as being of somewhat oval form, while Figure 9 shows the resilient cords s and t respectively as each having a projecting rib or fillet it which mutually engage in the manner shown.

Whilst the cross section of the two respective cords Will be usually the same on the collar and the neck band, the cord used on the collar may however be different in shape from that as used on the neck band.

As thus far described, the resilient cord in each case is a single cord which is of solid or of hollow or tubular construction, but this may be modified by making such a cord from a number of thin resilient threads prepared from rubber, or from material or substances possessing similar properties, and shown in cross section in Figure 11.

The threads 1) are wound, plaited, twisted or laid together to form the complete cord, and they are preferably laid or interlaced around a core to formed for example of string or of a suitable noncompressible hard material, and upon or around such a bundle of threads there is woven or otherwise applied a sheath or covering of linen, cotton, silk or the like to enclose the bundle of threads so as to maintain them in proper position.

For convenience in fastening a ridge made in this way, the covering y is preferably extended at z in the form of a selvedge or hem by which it may be conveniently secured as by stitching at 20 to the collar or the neck band respectively. By securing the sheath in this way, i. e. along one side of the ridge, the latter has a certain freedom if movement to ensure better interengagement between the two.

In a further form of construction as shown in Figure 12, the threads 11 are arranged as before, around the core w, but there is arranged along the exterior of the bundle of threads .a string or non-compressible member 2| extending parallel with the threads and the whole bound together by an outer covering such as y of woven or other binding such as silk, cotton or the like. As seen in Figure 12 the resulting ridge is of somewhat oval form, and such a ridge may be conveniently attached to the neck band or collar respectively by a line of stitching 22 which passes through the ridge and if desired also through some of the threads 12 in between the cord w and the outer string 2| It is to be observed that the ridge as secured upon the neck band is arranged thereon at about half-way of the height thereof, and in regard to the collar, the ridge is secured somewhat near to the lower edge. These relative positions of the two ridges are not necessarily confined to the positions shown, and other positions may be adopted as found desirable in practice.

In order that the ends of the ridges may not be left as projecting shoulders, they are preferably left with pointed ends 25, the vertical faces of such end portions being splayed as at 26, see Figures 13 and 14.

By such an arrangement, the ends of the ridges will present a neat and. smooth appearance which will not interfere with the wear of the garment. Although preferably the two ridges described are formed as of continuous length, they may however be divided up into two or more sections as found convenient, and in Figure 4 the collar for example is shown with a ridge made up of three portions 21. The ridge on the collar band may be of a similarly interrupted form or it may be continuous, and instead of either ridge being of the length shown in Figure 1 it may be confined to a portion some two inches long.

By making the ridge members in the various Ways described, the collar is yieldingly held in position both at the back and the sides. Moreover, owing to the resiliency of the ridge, when the collar or the neck band is being laundered, no change will result in the properties of the ridges such as might occur if the ridges were wholly composed of mere fabric.

In a further modification, the rubber or other resilient piping or cord may be formed from latex which has been suitably treated with coagulating .and vulcanizing agents whereby a cord of stabilized latex material will be formed which will possess a high degree of resilience and of tough character to withstand wear.

When the ridge is made up of a number of multiple threads as shown in Figures 10, 11, and

12, such threads may also be formed from latex suitably treated and each thread may be covered with silk, linen or the like, or left uncovered. Moreover, if and when desired, the stitching used to attach the ridges in position may be efiected by means of elastic thread.

When a sheath is used to enclose the piping cord above described, such sheath may be given an extensible or resilient character by being made wholly or partly of threads of rubber, latex or of material possessing similar properties. Such threads may be all warp and weft, or part warp and part weft, or weft or warp only. These threads may be covered with linen, cotton or the like. To secure such a sheath the stitching is preferably of similarly extensible or elastic thread.

In a further modification, the ridge may be formed by a special weaving arranged in the fabric structure of the collar, collar band or the neck band respectively, that is to say, where the desired ridge is to be formed, one or a number of rubber threads may be interweaved with the warp threads or otherwise, whereby, at the desired position, a projecting ridge-like enlargement will be constituted which will then be adapted to serve as the projecting ridge referred to so that, instead of the ridge being separately attached to the particular part desired, it forms essentially a part of the woven structure.

The ridge need not always be permanently secured to either the collar or the neck band If and when desired, the ridge may be easily detachable, for which purpose it may be held in position by tapes, pockets, loops and the like secured to the collar and neck band respectively.

When desired, the ridge member may be inserted bodily between the folds of the material forming the collar or the neck band as the case may be.

By the foregoing arrangement the collar is elastically or resiliently supported all around the neck band and constitutes as it were a flexible resilient frame holding the neck band and the collar away from the neck and giving freedom to the throat. Moreover, as it is not necessary to use any back stud for the attachment of the collar, not only will greater freedom be secured to the wearer of the collar but more comfort will be afforded.

I claim:

1. An improved device for enabling detachable collars to be worn with shirts, comprising a pair of ridge-like bands comprising resilient material secured upon the collar and the neck band of the shirt respectively so as longitudinally to engage with one another and thus to secure the collar in position, in which both of the ridgelike bands are attached along their relatively remote edges only to the collar and the neck band respectively so that their adjacent edges engage one another and are at the same time free to move relatively to one another and maintain mutual engagement, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. An improved device for enabling detachable collars to be worn with shirts comprising a pair of ridge-like bands comprising rubber-like material possessing resilient properties, such ridgelike band being secured upon the collar and the neck band of the shirt respectively so as to engage longitudinally with one another and thus to secure the collar in position, in which both of the ridge-like bands are attached to the collar along their relatively remote edges and the neck band respectively so that their adjacent edges engage one another and are at the same time free to move relatively to one another and maintain mutual engagement, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the ridge formed on the collar is smaller in cross section than that on the neck band, the shape of the cross sections being the same.

4. An improved device for enabling detachable collars to be worn with shirts comprising a pair of ridge-like bands comprising rubber like material possessing resilient properties, and which are not adversely affected by Washing, 5 ironing or laundering operations and secured one upon the collar and the other upon the neck band of the shirt so as to engage each other and in which at least one of the ridge bands is in discontinuous sections.

5. A neck band and collar having their adjacent surfaces provided with ridge bands in which each ridge-band comprises a rubber like resilient piping contained within a sheath of fab-. ric, which fabric is extensible and the sheath is secured by elastic threads and in which the rubber piping that forms the ridge-like band is made up of a number of threads of resilient material twisted together and each thread is covered with a binding of fabric.

6. A neck band and collar having their adjacent surfaces provided with ridge bands comprising threaded piping and in which the threads forming the piping are laid or assembled round a central core of hard material, the band thus constituted being enveloped in an outer sheath of fabric.

7. A device as claimed in claim 6, in which there is used in addition to the inner core, an outer string applied along the exterior of the bundle of threads, the whole being then bound with an outer sheath of fabric.

8. A device as claimed in claim 6, in which the outer sheath is extended by which the resilient cord is secured in position to the band or collar by stitching which passes between the centre core and. the outer string.

9. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the ends of the resilient piping or cord are splayed off to avoid end projecting shoulders.

THOMAS LEWIS SHEPHERD. 

